Release of priests' personnel files called step closer to truth

Nearly a decade ago, Manuel Vega held a weeklong sidewalk vigil downtown in the hope of persuading the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles to come clean about sexual abuse by its priests.

With Monday's court-ordered release of hundreds of pages of unredacted personnel files, Vega feels that his prayers - and those of other clerical abuse victims - are finally being answered.

"Overall, I think it's a win-win," said Vega, a 46-year-old former policeman who lives in Oxnard and who testified more than a decade ago in the early days of the abuse scandal that eventually shattered the church.

"I think this should serve as a model for the release of other (unredacted) files by the archdiocese," said Vega, a former altar boy whose lawsuit claimed he was abused by Father Fidencio Silva at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Oxnard.

"The closer we get to the truth, (the sooner) the `alleged victims' connotation goes away."

The documents include letters and memos between church leaders and their attorneys, medical and psychological records. There are also complaints from parents and correspondence with the Vatican about abusive priests.

More details are expected to come to light as the church releases an estimated 30,000 pages of documents as part of a settlement with more than 500 victims of clerical abuse, who received a record $660 million in the deal.

"(The documents) reflect a way of doing business in the archdiocese," said Anthony DeMarco, the Pasadena attorney who is representing alleged victims of Aguilar Rivera. "They reflect just a pattern of making a conscious decision to protect those they knew were pedophiles while disregarding victims.

"I think the importance of getting these documents out is so that the community can learn, learn how it happened, so therefore how we can better protect against this sort of thing happening again."

For some, the news was simply a validation of what they had long suspected.

"We knew that the cover-up was extensive, and we knew that priests had been moved around to avoid detection. But I think this is the first time that victims and the public have learned how hands-on Cardinal Mahony was in the whole process," said Joelle Casteix, western regional director for Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP.

"What these documents are telling us is that Mahony knew the extent of damage these priests caused, and he knew it would hurt him in the pocketbook and it would hurt the church's reputation, and he and other officials, they carefully calculated the cover-up of these priests to make sure that they were never turned over to law enforcement."

Katie Sanchez, a member of St. Bruno Parish in Whittier, believes that most people suspected there was a cover-up by church leaders in Los Angeles.

"It's been going on for so long that I don't think anybody's shocked that the archdiocese is coming out and confirming what everybody already knows," she said. "This isn't a surprise."

Mahony, who retired as archbishop in 2011 but remains a cardinal in the church, issued a statement of apology, in which he also described years of meetings with 90 victims of clerical abuse.

"Toward the end of our visits I would offer the victims my personal apology - and took full responsibility - for my own failure to protect fully the children and youth entrusted into my care," he wrote. "I apologized for all of us in the church for the years when ignorance, bad decisions and moral failings resulted in the unintended consequences of more being done to protect the Church - and even the clergy perpetrators - than was done to protect our children."

But attorney Lynne Cadigan, who represented two brothers abused by ex-priest Michael Stephen Baker, a convicted child molester, discounted Mahony's apology and even his prayers for victims.

"Roger Mahony should be praying for his own soul, for the serious abuse and damage caused by his cover-up and his failure to protect the children," Cadigan said.

Archdiocese spokesman Tod Tamberg issued a statement saying the church has implemented procedures for preventing and reporting abuse. Anyone who deals regularly with children - clergy, employees and volunteers - must first be fingerprinted and their records checked with law enforcement.

Celia Bremer, a lifelong member and now eucharistic minister for Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church in San Pedro, said she is comfortable that sufficient safeguards are in place now.

"Everyone is on board and participating," Bremer said. "I don't think it could happen again."

Walter Conn, a parishioner at St. Phillip's Church in Pasadena, said his thoughts were with the now-adult victims, as well as with church leaders.

"I feel very sorry for those who are victims. It certainly has affected many of them in their future," said Conn, a former altar boy.

"I always looked up to the priests so this is very unfortunate ... It is easy to say, `This is what we should have done,' but when you are on the firing line it's not easy."

Paul Trozzi, a parishioner at St. Christopher's Church in West Covina, expressed similar feelings.

"My immediate reaction is to pray for all those involved," Trozzi said. "It's really difficult to determine what happened. I want to respect the dignity of those involved - both the victims and the accused."